Processing units, such as graphics processing units (GPUs), include processing cores having general purpose registers (GPRs) that store data resulting from the execution of an instruction or data needed for the execution of an instruction. For example, a processing element of the processing core includes an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) that performs a plurality of arithmetic operations. The GPR may store the results of the arithmetic operations and/or store operands of the arithmetic operations.
The GPR may be local to the processor core of the processing unit. Accordingly, accessing a GPR may require less power than accessing local cache memory or external system memory. Although more power efficient than local cache memory or external system memory, storing data to the GPR does consume power.